Alva Review-Courier -

NORTH ENID, Okla. (AP) — Chisholm Public Schools child nutrition employees get to work with a chef to improve their food service skills.

Through the USDA-sponsored "Cooking for Kids" program, schools applied to have a chef come to their cafeterias several times a year to work with the food service employees to improve methods and best practices, as well as implement new menu items, the Enid News & Eagle (http://bit.ly/2fFB0xT ) reports.

Chisholm Food Service Director Rhonda Robinett said members of the district attended a "Cooking for Kids" conference during the summer.

"I think 90 schools applied for the program, and 25 got it," she said. "We were one of the schools."

Bill Harris, a chef consultant with the program, worked with the Chisholm Elementary staff several weeks ago and returned to work in the middle school kitchen.

"I am a firm believer in sampling items before putting all of our eggs in one basket — so if the kids don't like it, then we know," he said.

This time, Harris was making something he ate in school as a child.

"We are making spaghetti pizza," he said. "This is a popular dish I've sampled before. It's a fusion of two loves of kids — spaghetti and pizza. We are going to sample it at lunch and we will have a ballot — a smiley face or a frown — and they will circle it... Once it's sampled, if they like it, we will put it on the menu."

In addition to offering advice and menu options, program chefs get a budget to spend on materials for the district kitchens.

Harris has $2,000 to spend on Chisholm's kitchens.

"I got some long pans for their salad bar, and I bought them a sectionizer — it's a tool to section oranges," he said. "This is a lot of fun. This is one of my favorite schools."

There are seven chefs in the program, and Harris works with eight districts across the state.

"I've done child nutrition programs in the past, so I know the rules and regulations," he said. "I am also another set of eyes. They get federal funding so there are rules that need to be followed. Sometimes you get caught up in the day to day thing and you don't realize you need to be doing something a different way."

Harris said he plans to work with his schools on implementing healthy food options.

"We are going to do a lot with vegetable cookery," he said. "Things don't always have to come out of a can. Things can be frozen — fresh-frozen — and we will build on that."

This is the only program of its kind in the country, Harris said.

"The main goal is to eat healthy and reduce obesity," he said. "That's why it's so important to have it in Oklahoma."

The program is for more than implementing healthy options and better kitchen practices, Harris said.

"This is important because it shows the cafeteria workers in the child nutrition program that they are a valued department," he said, adding that some people don't take child nutrition programs seriously. "It's not like they look down on them, but it's not as highly regarded as say, the football program or the national merit scholars or something. It gives them the tools to build their confidence... Our service is to show that they can be dynamic and do sampling, and other things that are different."